A Nuremberg silver goblet made for the council of the market court of Pyrbaum
The base with six repoussé flowerhead motifs supporting a slender shaft with three scrolls and foliate decor and a waisted cup and corresponding cover. The finial formed as a Roman soldier holding two shields engraved with the coats-of-arms of the market community of Pyrbaum in Upper Palatinate and the imperial counts von Wolfstein. H 43 cm, weight 498 g.
Marks of Reinhold Rühl, around 1661 - 64.
The plaque set into the lid is inscribed in lead black "Bey gehaltener Raths-Wahl Anno 1670, haben Herrn Richter, Kammerer und Schöpffen eines Erbarn Marck-Gerichts zu Pyrbaum diesen Becher verfertigen und zu ihrem Ehren-Gedächtnüs der Gerichts Laden beyfüegen lassen." followed by the names of judges, treasurers and nine jurymen numbered 1 to 9. Places 10, 11 and 12 were left vacant or removed.
The "Wolfsteiner" were one of the most important noble families in Upper Palatinate, and towns of Sulzbürg and Pyrbaum belonged to their domain until the extinction of the family in 1740.
Provenance
Formerly in the Baron Maximilian von Heyl coll., Darmstadt 1897, Bulgari collection, Rome 1964; Italian private collection; auctioned by Lempertz, auction 1107, lot 703.
Literature
Mentioned in Marc Rosenberg, Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen, vol. III, No. 4232 e. C.F The Cup of the Nuremberg brewers by the same maker in the Rudolf-August Oetker collection, illustrated in the catalugue 'Die Faszination des Sammelns', Dresden/Munich 2012, No. 7.